HUGHTON PRAISES AWAY DISPLAY

Brighton & Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton hailed his side's 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers as an excellent away-day display - after a resolute performance provided a first win on the road since 10th January.

His team were on top in the first half and went ahead when Rovers skipper Matt Kilgallon headed Chris O'Grady's cross into his own net in spectacular fashion; Rovers rallied after the break, but Albion were solid and opened up a ten-point gap on the drop zone.

Hughton said, "We were excellent today. They are a good side and have real threats upfront and with the two out wide. They like to get as many balls into the front and into the box as they can, so your game management and your discipline has got to be very good.

"I thought we coped with it very, very well. We broke well and it's a little bit of an uneven pitch and maybe a little bit of a different surface we would've had a little bit more joy with our counterattacking – but I thought it was a victory that we deserved.

"I was most pleased with the way we reacted after going ahead. Sometimes you look to get that little bit of fortune, which we did today; generally we don’t score those type of goals. We knew in the second-half they were going to come out strong, and they did and we coped with that.

"It is nice to be ten points clear and we have a very good goal difference which helps. It's always nervy times when you're just above that relegation zone or when the points are minimal points, so it makes days like today even better – particularly the fact that we're away from home and lately we've found it difficult on our travels, so that makes it feel even better."
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The Albion boss also praised some key individual contributions and revealed the important role played by midfielder Rohan Ince. He was brought back into the side to give Albion's back line protection against Rovers potentially rampant attack. Ince slotted into a midfield three with Dale Stephens and Beram Kayal, with Joao Teixeira and Emmanuel Ledesma operating in the wide positions either side of lone striker Chris O'Grady.

"I thought there were some really good performances. Rohan was really important today with the way that they played and we wanted to stop that; not so much the service to the front, but their ability to hold that ball and really to work off the front.

"David Stockdale didn't have a clear-cut chance to save, but his handling had to be good today. They put a lot of balls in the box and I think for a goalkeeper these are the toughest type of games because there are lot of decisions you have to make; whether to come for the ball or not, whether to stay between the posts and I thought he got the majority of things right today which was very good.

"And you have to have somebody that can hold the ball up. With Chris [O’Grady] if I look at his performances it's been difficult because he hasn't got the goals that he would've liked, but particularly on a day like today you have to look at his overall contribution and it was important because you’ve got to get the ball up the park, you’ve got to hold onto the ball and give us a chance and he did that."